Major property transfer for Sacramento business park

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AFNS) --  Officials from the Air Force and Sacramento County, together with McClellan Business Park and environmental regulators celebrated the largest property transfer to date Aug. 12 at the former McClellan Air Force Base here.

The ceremony marked the transfer of 560 acres including a variety of industrial facilities, office buildings, a hotel and housing. An innovative, multiagency agreement referred to as an early transfer with privatized cleanup facilitated the transfer from the Air Force to Sacramento County and then to McClellan Business Park, the developer for the former base, bringing the total acreage transferred to approximately 1,300 acres.

Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics Terry Yonkers spoke at the event held at McClellan's Aerospace Museum of California.

"McClellan's early transfer with privatized cleanup is good for the Air Force because we can hand off our environmental role to the (Environmental Protection Agency) and reduce our environmental liability through a negotiated cost agreement," Mr. Yonkers said. "Encouraging efficiencies in the redevelopment process is good for the community because it translates into more jobs."

"This transfer represents a major milestone in McClellan's transformation into a vital economic engine for Sacramento County," said Roger Dickinson, chair of the Sacramento Board of Supervisors who also spoke at the event. "Bringing this land into our local control is a smart investment for the region and will stimulate the creation of new businesses and jobs."

"Here at McClellan we're at the forefront of combining cleanup and redevelopment while addressing complex environmental and community concerns," said Phil Mook, senior representative for the Air Force Real Property Agency. "The success of this unique transfer speaks to the dedication and teamwork of everyone involved."

In 1987, the 3,000-acre installation was added to the EPA's National Priorities List due to contaminants in the soil and groundwater. Since then, Air Force officials have worked with representatives of the U.S. EPA, the State of California's Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board to clean the property before transferring it to the county for redevelopment.

Under the agreement, McClellan Business Park officials, with oversight from the EPA, will be responsible for addressing contamination in the first 15 feet of soil below the surface. This allows redevelopment and cleanup to proceed in tandem, resulting in much efficiency. The developer can hold title to the property, easing financing negotiations with lenders and investors. In addition, it puts them in the driver's seat for scheduling, permitting and coordination with regulators.

McClellan AFB closed in 2001 following the 1995 recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Today, it's one of the largest economic development and infill reuse projects in Northern California. Some 15,000 people live and work at McClellan Park. Sacramento County officials estimate that when fully developed, the business park will have 35,000 jobs and generate more than $6.6 million per year in local property tax and $1.1 million per year in local sales tax revenue.

The Air Force Real Property Agency is responsible for remediation and property transfer at 40 former Air Force installations throughout the U.S. under the BRAC program. At the height of the BRAC process, AFRPA officials managed 87,000 acres, or about 137 square miles of property. In the two decades since the first BRAC in 1988, the agency has transferred 88 percent -- more than 116 square miles of land, twice the area of Washington, D.C. -- to local communities for public use. Throughout the transfer process, Air Force leaders remain committed to protecting human health and the environment.